BE THE VILLAGE

Literacy, Leadership, and the Power of Showing Up

By Angie Akmakjian
Executive Director, My Village Library

When people hear the word “literacy,” they often think about children learning to read. That is certainly an important part of literacy, but the full story is much bigger.

Literacy affects children, parents, employees, employers, families, and entire communities. It gives people the ability to understand information, communicate confidently, make informed decisions, and pursue opportunities that might otherwise remain out of reach.

Literacy is more than reading words on a page.

Literacy is confidence. It is independence. It is opportunity.

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE WHEN WORDS BECOME WALLS

Imagine arriving somewhere you cannot read the street signs, understand the currency, follow written instructions, or comfortably ask for help.

Even ordinary tasks—ordering a meal, finding an address, completing a form, or having a conversation—can suddenly become overwhelming.

How would that make you feel?

How would you navigate your day?

Who or what would you rely on to get by?

For many people, this feeling is not limited to traveling somewhere unfamiliar. It can be part of everyday life.

That is why literacy advocacy matters.

Literacy advocacy is the active support, defense, and promotion of every person’s right to read, write, understand language, and access information. It serves children who are still learning, adults who were never given the support they needed, newcomers learning English, parents trying to guide their families, and workers seeking better opportunities.

The need is broader than many people realize. The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that approximately 43 million American adults have low English literacy skills. Two-thirds of the adults in that group were born in the United States.

Literacy is not only a children’s issue or an immigrant issue. It is a people issue, a workforce issue, and a community issue.

A LOCAL VILLAGE WITH A GLOBAL STORY

At My Village Library, we have the privilege of serving families in one of North Texas’ most internationally diverse school communities.

Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD reports that its students speak 75 different languages. Nearly one-quarter of its students are emergent bilingual, approximately 18% receive English-as-a-second-language services, and more than 59% are economically disadvantaged.

Those statistics represent real people.

They represent a child trying to understand a science lesson.

They represent a parent learning how to support homework in an unfamiliar language.

They represent a teacher stretching limited time across a full classroom.

They also represent a volunteer who chooses to sit beside one student for one focused hour.

My Village Library was originally founded as part of Mission Central in 2003. When Mission Central closed, community leaders and the Mid-Cities Pacesetters Rotary Club helped relaunch the program as an independent nonprofit in April 2024.

Today, in partnership with HEB ISD, we provide weekly one-hour mentoring sessions that include individualized plans for homework support, relationship building, and special attention to reading and mathematics.

We also help parents discover ways to support their children’s education at home because strong readers are built through strong families and supportive communities.

WHY THE THIRD-GRADE MILESTONE MATTERS

During the early elementary years, children are learning how to read. Beginning around third grade, they increasingly use reading to learn science, history, mathematics, and other subjects.

That transition makes third grade a crucial milestone.

Research from the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that one in six children who were not reading proficiently by third grade failed to graduate from high school on time—a rate four times higher than that of proficient readers.

The risk became even greater when limited reading skills and poverty overlapped.

Those numbers are sobering, but I believe they should motivate us—not discourage us.

We answer that challenge with hope, consistency, and personal connection. We move forward one relationship, one lesson, one smile, and one breakthrough at a time.

A LESSON EVERYONE CAN USE

At My Village Library, we believe in a simple but powerful philosophy:

Excite. Prepare. Empower. Release to be lifelong learners.

This philosophy guides our literacy programs, but it can also guide anyone who leads, teaches, manages, mentors, volunteers, raises a family, or serves a community.

Excite.

Spark curiosity. Help people understand why something matters and what could become possible.

Prepare.

Provide the tools, training, patience, encouragement, and practice people need to build real capability.

Empower.

Give people opportunities to experience progress, make decisions, solve problems, and develop confidence in their abilities.

Release.

Trust people to apply what they have learned, continue growing, and eventually help someone else succeed.

Think about how this philosophy can work in business.

Strong leaders do more than assign tasks. They connect people to a purpose, equip them to succeed, build their confidence, and then give them room to lead.

At home, it can mean reading with a child instead of simply telling the child to read.

In the community, it means recognizing that someone’s struggle is not proof of limited potential. It may simply mean the right support has not reached that person yet.

People are not problems to solve. They are potential waiting to be unlocked.

WHEN ONE READER GROWS, THE WHOLE VILLAGE GROWS

Literacy advocacy changes lives one reader at a time, but its impact never stops with one person.

A child who reads confidently can participate more fully in every subject.

A parent who understands school communication can advocate more effectively for their family.

An adult who develops stronger literacy skills may qualify for better employment, manage finances more confidently, understand important health information, and participate more fully in community life.

Employers gain a more capable workforce.

Families gain greater stability.

Communities gain voices that might otherwise remain unheard.

That is why this work belongs to all of us.

You do not have to be a teacher or reading specialist to become part of the village. You can mentor, volunteer, connect us with a community partner, sponsor a student, or make a recurring contribution.

According to My Village Library, $20 can fund one week of mentoring for a student, while $1,030 can support a student for an entire school year.

You can also practice our four-part philosophy wherever you already lead:

Excite someone with possibility.

Prepare them with patience.

Empower them through encouragement.

Release them with trust.

Together, we can help people learn to read, read to learn, and succeed for a lifetime.

That is how we build stronger readers.

That is how we build stronger leaders.

That is how we build stronger families.

That is how we build stronger communities.

That is how we become the village.

A QUESTION FOR THE LCS ROOM

Who in your life, workplace, or community needs you to excite, prepare, empower, and release them?